“It’s twenty-eight more people to pay for, Alecia. I know Will says that he doesn’t care about the money, but this wedding has turned into this enormously expensive affair with celebrities and so many people, and it’s costing him a fortune!”
I nod, knowing she can’t see me. It’s costing a fortune.
“Meg, Will wants to give you this wedding. He loves you big. Anyone can see it.”
“He does everything big,” she whispers, and I can hear the tears in her voice. All brides are nervous and worry about their day, and few handle the stress of an affair of this size this well.
“It’s a lot of people. Celebrities and wealthy people, yes, but Meg, they’re your friends. You know every single person you’ve invited.”
“I know. I made sure of that. We’re not turning this into a media circus. Only guests we know and care about will be there.”
“Exactly.”
I hear her take another deep breath.
“I’m being ridiculous.”
“You’re being a bride,” I reply with a chuckle. “It’s okay. There will be several more moments like this between now and next Saturday, but seriously, don’t sweat it. Everything is under control. We have wiggle room for extra people. This doesn’t concern me at all.”
That’s not entirely true, but she’ll never know it.
“Okay. I feel better.”
“Good. I’m actually about to turn into Dom’s winery right now. I’m going to go over the plans for the set up and start to get things underway.”
“Oh, my God! It’s happening! The butterflies are back.”
“Why do you have butterflies, sweetheart?” Will asks her. He must be hugging her because his voice is very close to the phone.
“Alecia is going to the winery today to start on things.”
“Hi, Alecia,” he says into the phone.”
“Tell him hello. Go attack him or something to take your mind off things. I have this handled. I promise.”
“Yes, go attack him,” Will agrees. “Bye, Alecia.”
“Bye guys.” I chuckle and end the call as I park in the circular drive in front of the large villa before me. Meg gets to go have sex with Will Montgomery.
Lucky bitch.
I turn the engine off and stare at the villa for a moment, take a deep breath, and pray that Dom’s assistant will be showing me around. He’s a distraction I don’t need today.
And he does distract me.
But luck isn’t running in my favor when the door to the villa opens and Dom steps outside and saunters to my door, opening it for me.
You can do this! You’re a professional!
“Good morning,” he murmurs and holds his hand out for mine.
“Good morning,” I reply. I place my hand in his and allow him to help me out of the car, and immediately curse myself when the zing of awareness travels up my arm and lands squarely in my belly, making me warm all over.
Damn sexy Italian.
“You’re earlier than I expected.”
“There’s a lot to be done, and I have some vendors coming this afternoon to drop off supplies. I wanted to get a head start.”
He nods and leads me along the sidewalk, away from the front door of the villa.
“Let’s look around outside first, then I’ll show you the house.”
“Sounds fine,” I reply and pull my hand from his to turn on my iPad and bring up my notes.
“Would you like to change your shoes?” he asks, making me stop in my tracks. I blink up at him in confusion and then look down at my black heels.
“Why?”
“We’ll be walking quite a bit, and those can’t be terribly comfortable. Sexy as fuck, but not exactly practical.”
I smirk. Yes, my shoes are sexy as fuck.
“These are sneakers for me, Dom. I’m fine.”
“As you wish,” he replies with a half-smile, showing off the dimple in his cheek and making my nipples pucker.
Damn nipples.
He’s in dark grey slacks today. I’ve decided that his ass looks fantastic in anything. Jeans, slacks, it doesn’t matter. And he’s wearing another white button-down, this one has grey pinstripes, the sleeves rolled, and the top button undone.
I want to lean in and breathe him in.
Down, girl.
“Where are we headed first?” I ask, staring down at my iPad.
“Where would you prefer?”
“Let’s look at where the dance floor and stage are going. That’s the biggest project for construction, and I want to get a feel for it first.” I glance up to find him smiling down at me with warm eyes. “What?”
“I like it when you put on your business side.”
“I’m so relieved,” I reply dryly. Stop flirting with me!
He just laughs and leads me around the building. There are sidewalk paths that meander through beautiful, lush green grass and gardens and water gardens. The grounds of the winery are simply gorgeous.
It’s still early in the day, so it’s not too warm, but I’m glad I wore a light linen shift dress rather than a suit, since I’ll be outside the majority of the day.
“You live so far away from the city,” I say, needing to cut through the silence that he seems to be perfectly at ease in. He glances down at me with an easy grin.
“Wait until you see why.”
“Well, I can see that it’s beautiful here.”